Tapio Veli Ilmari Wirkkala (2 June 1915 – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer and sculptor, a major figure of post-war design.

Life and work

Wirkkala was born in Hanko in 1915. He attended the Töölö co-educational school in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. His father, Ilmari Wirkkala, was a cemetery architect, and mother Selma (née Vanhatalo) a wood-carver. His sister Helena Korvenkontio and brother Tauno Wirkkala were also artists. Wirkkala's work ranges from designs of plastic ketchup bottles and metalware to glass, ceramics and plywood in a range of styles. His success as a glass designer began in 1946 when he designed the Kantarelli vase for Iittala, and the mass-produced Tapio collection was launched in 1954. His range was immense, including glassware, stoneware, jewellery, and furniture for mass production, as well as individual sculptures in several media. He designed commemorative postage stamps for the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, and also designed the

Finnish markka The markka ( fi, markka; sv, mark; sign: Mk; ISO code: FIM, typically known outside Finland as the Finnish mark) was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The mark was divided into 100 p ...

banknotes introduced in 1955. In the early 1950s, Wirkkala worked as the artistic director at the Helsinki Central School of Industrial Design. The WIR lightbulb designed by Wirkkala for was awarded the Grand Prix at the XII Milan Triennial in 1960. Among his most famous work have been the designs for the

Finlandia ''Finlandia'', Op. 26, is a tone poem by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It was written in 1899 and revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian ...

vodka bottle (1970–1999) and for Iittala's Ultima Thule set of kitchen glasses. Both glassware items feature a dripping

icicle An icicle is a spike of ice formed when water falling from an object freezes. Formation and dynamics Icicles can form during bright, sunny, but subfreezing weather, when ice or snow melted by sunlight or some other heat source (such as ...

look, and in the case of the Iittala's glassware it is said to have taken thousands of hours to develop a glassblowing technique that would produce the effect. Wirkkala did much of his initial design work using a traditional Finnish carving knife, the puukko. Wirkkala designed his own version of the knife, the Tapio Wirkkala Puukko, which was manufactured by Hackman Cutlery and marketed by

Brookstone Brookstone is a chain of retail stores in the United States and China. It was founded as a mail-order business in 1965, when it started selling items, such as dental clamps and other specialty tools. Its first physical location opened in 1973 i ...

in the US in the early-1970s. Wirkkala died in Helsinki on 19 May 1985 and was buried in the artists' area of the

Hietaniemi Cemetery The Hietaniemi cemetery ( fi, Hietaniemen hautausmaa, sv, Sandudds begravningsplats) is located mainly in the Lapinlahti quarter and partly in the Etu-Töölö district of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. It is the location for Finnish state fu ...

; his wife, Rut Bryk, was later buried next to him.

Awards and distinctions

* 1st and 2nd place, Bill Designing Competition of

Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Pankki, sv, Finlands Bank) is the central bank of Finland. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Sweden's Riksbank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of France. History ...

1947 * 4 awards, Designing Olympic Stamps 1951, for the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

* 3 Grand Prix at the 9th Milan Triennuial, 1951 * 3 Grand Prix, at the 10th Milan Triennuial, 1954 * Lunning Prize 1951 *

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President ...

-medal 1955 * 1st place, the World Fair in Brussels 1957 * Society of Industrial Artists Medal of the Year 1958 * Grand Prix and Gold Medal, Milan 1960; Silver Medal, Milan 1963 * Domus Golden Obelisk, Milan 1963 * Gold Medal of the President of Italy, Faenza International Ceramics Competition 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969 and 1973 * Premio Internazionale Vicenza 1963, 1966 and 1967 * Honorary Royal Designer of Industry, London 1964 * Honorary Prize, the

Finnish Cultural Foundation Finnish Cultural Foundation ( fi, Suomen Kulttuurirahasto) is a private nonprofit foundation dedicated to the promotion of culture and science in Finland. The foundation's assets are about 1.1 billion euros, which makes it one of the largest privat ...

1968 * Honorary doctorate, Royal College of Arts, London 1971 * Honorary Member of the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Londo ...

, London 1971 * Academy of Finland's honorary title of academician 1972 * Teosto organization's medal for Creative Work 1980 *

Prince Eugen Medal The Prince Eugen Medal ( sv, Prins Eugen-medaljen) is a medal conferred by the King of Sweden for "outstanding artistic achievement". The medal was established in 1945 by the then King of Sweden, Gustaf V, in connection with the eightieth birth ...

, Stockholm 1980

Gallery

File:Kanttarelli - vase - 1946.jpg, Kanttarelli vase (1946) File:Tapio - glassware - 1952.jpg, Tapio glassware (1952) File:Tapio wirkkala per soinne e kni, vassoio foglia, legno, 1951-54.jpg, Leaf tray for Soinne et Kni (1951–1954) File:AIRAM Tapio Wirkkala.jpg, Lightbulbs for AIRAM (1959) File:Paadarin jää.png, Sculptures from the series Paadarin jää (1960) File:Don't Litter Vase by Tapio Wirkkala for Rosenthal.jpg, Porcelain "paper bag" vase for Rosenthal (c.1970) File:Ultima Thule1.jpg, Ultima Thule glassware for Iittala File:Hackman-puukko.jpg, Puukko hand knife File:Tunturi Fell.jpg, Tunturi, glass sculpture File:Tapio Wurkkala - Caravelle cutlery.jpg, Caravelle cutlery File:Wirkkala for Venini.jpg, Bottles for Venini File:Wirkkala 1952.jpg, Stamp for the Helsinki summer Olympics

References

External links

Tapio Wirkkala – Rut Bryk Foundation.

Wirkkala biography at Iittala.com.

Glass items designed by Tapio Wirkkala
at Finnish glass fan site designlasi.com. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wirkkala, Tapio 1915 births 1985 deaths People from Hanko Currency designers Chartered designers Finnish designers Finnish interior designers Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture alumni Academic personnel of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Recipients of the Order of the Lion of Finland Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal 20th-century Finnish sculptors